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pick the right prop for your photos

This post is brought to you from Melanie of Violet's Buds. Melanie has Bachelors of Science in Photography and provides product photography advice and services to entrepreneurs.

Product photography can be a tricky thing. You want to emphasize your product, but also give a context of what it is for. Props can be a useful tool for showing that your product is unique.Adding the right props can make a huge impact on how people perceive your products. Photographs with the right props can be what turns browsers into buyers. When selecting your props, you want to make sure they convey these three things:

The use of your product.

Twisted Thread and Hook has chosen a prop that makes sense with her work, demonstrates it's purpose and intended use and it also does a great job of showing the size of her product by scaling it with items that relate to it's use.

People are more prone to make a purchase when listings have lifestyle photos, especially when they can picture themselves using the product at home. When selecting your props for photo styling, make sure they are relative to the every day life of your target audience.

Something as simple as adding keys onto a keyring for GipsonWands keychain wand and showing the key unlocking the door make a big impact. This passive action shot is relative, conveys the function of the product and makes the product more desirable.

Using your hand as a prop for a functional object is another good way to show scale and give a sense of action, as demonstrated in this series of GipsonWands products in use.

Crocheting using a handmade hook

Pulling on the mini-wand light pull chain to suggest use

Holding a wand shows scale and action

If you have a hard time coming up ideas, write down all the uses for your product. Think of who would use it and how, why, and what it will be used for. Then associate different accessories that fit in these categories that could flatter your item. The best thing to do is keep experimenting until you find what works!